Long Delayed Trip of a Lifetime
“We can’t thank the Locaboat people enough for our wonderful week (13/05-20/05) boating between Argens-Minervois and Bram. It was a trip of a lifetime we had planned for since before Covid.
Instead of staying in home port the first night, as was suggested, we set off for Le Somail, a short ride up the canal and oozing with small cafe’s. It’s a great place for your first nights’ stay.
May is a great time on the canal. Not too many boats competing to get through the locks, not to many people competing for restaurants. Weather during the day was in the high 60’s, at night it dipped to around 50. The heat on our 1500FB Penichette had an easy time keeping us comfortable.
We spent overnights in Le Somail, Capestang, Homps, Marseillette, Carcassonne, and Bram. The only one to skip would be Marseillette, there’s one cafe and it’s not very good at all.
I’ll talk briefly about food and drink. Two restaurants stand out and you better get reservations. Le Cathare, in Carcassonne, has wonderful dry-aged steaks and delicious fois gras. Just get the house red wine, it’s delicious! The other restaurant to call out, and the biggest surprise, was L’Île aux Oiseaux which is in the same building as the Port Captain (Locaboat) in the Port of Bram. Don’t miss either of these. They are overwhelmingly good.
As for vineyards, they’re all over the place! My favorite happens to be the most convenient to boaters, the Chateau Paraza between Argens-Minervois and Le Somail. Wonderful, family-owned business has struggled through COVID and the loss of the patriarch. The wines are exceptional, tasting is free, tie up right in front of the place and just walk up the path.
One final word. After covering 143km of canal, and talking with other boaters, we realized that Locaboat has the newest and cleanest boats with the best maintenance programs. We’ll never use anyone else.”
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